Part 1
Here is my first short story. Enjoy and review please :)
It was early in the morning when everyone was sleeping and silence ruled the compound. There weren´t any footsteps or the sound of hectic breathing to hear as he walked towards the training grounds. For quite some time, it has become his daily routine to practice at dawn before all the captains stormed with the rank and foot soldiers to train with them. In this short time of life, he enjoyed the silence and devoted the most of his concentration in his thoughts.
As he reached the small dojo, he looked around. Nothing has changed since his last practice the day before. He walked in the middle of the room and drew his sword from its scabbard. The blade reflected the faint sunlight as he swung it trough the air.
Precise. Calm. Deadly.
With this words he could describe his own fighting style. He was a master in the art of Iai, a sword-style where the first blow decided the end of a fight. No matter how long he thought about it, he couldn´t remember how many life he already took away from his opponents.
It were too many to count.
"Saito-san. You´re already awake."
The soft voice from the only woman in the quarters interrupted him from his thoughts. He turned around to see the girl standing on the entrance of the dojo with a bowl in hands. He didn´t wonder why she was so early awake, he already knew the answer.
"Are you going to make breakfast with Harada-san ?"
She nodded in agreement. But to his surprise, she set the bowl next to her on the floor and sat down, a determined expression on her face.
"Harada-san said it´s too early to start with breakfast so he gave me some free time. I think I can keep you company for a little while."
He stared at her with a blank expression before he nodded in silent agreement. It didn´t bother him if she was there or not, as long as she didn´t disturbed his concentration. Saito raised his sword and performed some moves he had seen several days ago in a fight. His moves were flowing and graceful as he beat his invisible enemy with every move down. He could hear Chizurus breath as he closed his eyes and tried to focus on a certain spot with her breath as his only he opened his eyes again, he saw that he stood on the same spot where he was on the beginning of his training.
As he put the sword back in its scabbard, he heard her shifting.
"That was great Saito-san."
He only looked for some seconds to her, as he walked in her direction to exit the hall.
"That´s obvious for a captain of the Shinsengumi."
She looked after him as he left the training ground. It was nice for her to see one of the captains during the training, was it not allowed to her to go too near to the rank and file soldiers. Her true gender was a secret, no one should know about it. This was one of the reasons why she was so delighted that Saito allowed her to watch him during his training.
Chizuru took the bowl in hands and walked back towards the kitchen where Harada already awaited her.
„Can we start ?"
She smiled at him as she gave him the bowl and began to prepare the meal for breakfast.
"And then she slapped him in the face!"
"Oi, Heisuke. Why do you have to tell them that ?"
"Because you´re an idiot what concerns ladies."
"Sano, you traitor!"
The room was filled with loud noises and laughter as she entered the compound. It was her duty to pour tea for the captains since she was allowed to help them. Humming she stepped from captain to captain and spread the tea. Chizuru was about to give Hijikata his tea when he began to spoke.
"I know that this isn´t a meeting, but we have to talk about an urgent matter."
The whole room went quiet.
All eyes were pinned on the vice-commander who sipped with closed eyes on his tea, before he looked at every single captain. Chizuru noticed the thickness in the air and decided to excuse herself, was she not allowed to hear secret things, when Hijikata continued.
"Chizuru, you can remain here. I think this case would also be interesting for you."
She froze in her movement and sat down next to the shoji screen. It wasn´t normal to hear from the commander that her presence was desired in a meeting. The girl let her gaze wander through the room, still waiting for something to happen until Hijikata decided to continue.
"I´m sure you all know about the last Rasetsus who escaped and which were never seen again."
Agreement was seen in the faces of the captains. One month ago, more and more rasetsu escaped from Sannans care. They searched for them several days, but they were disappeared. The most disturbing thing was that they never heard from murder during the night.
It was clear that something happened to them.
The black-haired man set down his cup of tea and looked with a terrifying gaze to the candle with illuminated the room from the darkness.
"We have found out the reason for their disappearance."
All the warmth with was remained in the room disappeared, made space for dead silence. Heisuke was the one who asked the question which occupied him the most.
"How did you find out ?"
The black-haired man looked at Chizuru for a moment.
"They were controlled from someone who has lured them out and hide them now."
"Lured them out ? The Maekawa house is well guarded. How do you think they could come in and get them ?"
The vice-commander looked straight at Sannan who showed open his disbelief. It was clear that he wouldn´t believe a simple explanation, even if it was Hijikata who explained it so. He grabbed in his pocket and pulled out a cloth doll which he threw in the middle of the room.
"With this they reached their goal."
Sannan grabbed the puppet doll and looked at it with skeptical eyes. He could see that the doll was badly damaged by multiple stab wounds over the entire body. For him, it was not more that trash.
"And how do you think they lured them out with this doll ?"
Hijikata closed his eyes and took a deep breath, before he looked straight at the captains.
"We have it to do with a puppet master."
With an unsettled expression, Chizuru looked out the window in the garden which was covered in snow. The meeting was just a few hours ago, but for her it was still in her mind. She lowered her head at the thought that everyone would do their best while she just sat on her butt, not knowing what to do to help. They told her that she can´t do anything to help them, so she was forced to return to her room.
For her, it was clear.
She didn´t want to just sit around and do nothing. She wanted to be useful, to do something special with which they could find the culprit.
But how can I help them ?
The girl sighed. There was nothing she could actually do for the Shinsengumi. She was just a hostage with its help they wanted to find her father who developed the Ochimizu. There was nothing more. She was about to close the shoji screen to go to bed when she saw it. There, at the Maekawa house, was something. But due to the distance she couldn´t say what it was.
Then she remembered the words of Hijikata.
"They were controlled from someone who has lured them out and hide them now."
Quickly, she changed her clothes and left her room to ran towards the Maekawa house. When she reached it, she hid herself in the shadows. Chizuru could hear noises inside of the house which told her that someone was in. Hesitantly, she walked towards the entrance and peered around the corner. In the middle of the room, stand a person in a black cloak. She could not see the face of the person because he stand with his back towards her, but she could tell that it was a man. He did something and brought the rasetsu to lost their control. In the next moment, all rasetsu were free. But to her surprise, they didn´t attack him.
„Why do you don´t come out, little bird?"
Her eyes widened. She knew he talked with her, was she the only one who stand outside the house. She felt how her heart pondered painful against her chest, as she moved back to ran away. But before she could flee, she felt a body behind her.
„It is rude to walk away when someone just want to talk with you."
Chizuru froze.
Slowly, she turned around to see one of the rasetsu behind her. His eyes glowed in a dark red, but he made no preparations to attack her. Behind him, she could see the man with the black cloak.
„So, if you permit."
He smiled at her, before she felt something strange drove through her body. It was as if lightening would tear apart her body. In the next moment, it stopped and she fell down to the ground. The man was just about to go when he heard an unfamiliar voice.
„It is also rude to enter enemy territory."
A fast spear cut the air and hit the man in the cloak through his back. He groaned in agony as he felt the pain shot through his entire body. Harada threw him through the air and glared at him with his most fearsome gaze he could manage. Moments later, Chizuru felt how someone lifted her body from the ground.
„But your biggest mistake was to hurt the woman who is under my protection!"
A maniac laugh escaped the lips of the stranger who stood up and turned around to the pair.
„Too bad that you were too slow to protect her properly."
With this, he turned around and was about to go together with the rasetsu when Harada threw his spear after him. But the man disappeared without a sound.
Only a cloth doll remained.
„It can't go on like that."
„Calm down. We don´t have any clue where he is."
„But we can´t let it slide. He had hurt Chizuru-chan!"
Loud noises waked her up from her deep slumber. She opened her eyes and stared directly at the ceiling of the compound.
„She´s awake."
The soft voice of Inoue welcomed her who sat besides her with a worried look on his face. Immediately, the conversation fell silent and all men in the room stared at her. With a lot of trouble, she got up from her laying position and looked around.
All the captains were gathered in the room.
After some time, she felt someone patted her on her head which brought her to look up. In front of her, sat Harada.
„Are you alright ?"
A confused look appeared on her face. She didn´t know what he meant the first moment, but then she remembered what happened to her. How she met the man in the Maekawa house, how he spoke with her and how he attacked her with something strange. What happened then, she didn´t know.
„Y-Yeah."
She heard how someone ran to her side and sat down next to her. As she turned around, she saw Heisuke.
„Chizuru, did this guy something to you ?"
The girl thought about it if she should tell them what this man did to her, but she decided to say the opposite. It was clear for her that she not wanted them to worry about her well being. She was already a millstone around their neck.
„No, I am fine."
Hijikata cleared his throat so the attention was drawn back to him.
„After we have this clarified, I have some questions for you Chizuru."
„But she just woke up-"
„Shut up Heisuke."
The boy fell silent and stared at the ground with clenched fists. It was clear to see that he was angry, but he didn´t spoke it out. Chizuru turned in Hijikatas direction, before she nodded her head in agreement.
„What were you doing on that night in the Maekawa house ?"
She closed her eyes. This was a good question. What was she thinking when she decided to investigate the Maekawa house ? Did she really think she could help them when she catch the culprit who kidnapped all these rasetsu ?
„I saw a stranger walking towards the Maekawa house and thought I could stop him when I follow him."
It was pathetic to think anyone in the room liked her idea of help. They all knew how foolish it was to try to catch a dangerous man when you are a girl. But she did it and no one could make it undo. She lowered her head so she couldn´t saw the expression of the men in the room. In the end, Hijikata sighed.
„Even if you did a foolish thing, I have to thank you."
Surprised, she looked up to see a faint smile on Hijikatas face. It was so rare to see such an expression on his face, she even thought it was just an imagination of her.
„Thank to you, we have a clue of the identity of the man we are looking for."
She was baffled to hear such a thing from the demon vice-commander, who never thanked someone for something. But it made her smile back in joy. Slowly, she felt more where her place in the Shinsengumi was.
It was in den middle of the night when she felt something was wrong with her. She opened her eyes and looked at the ceiling. Normally, she would stand up and go to the outside to get some fresh air to clear her thoughts. But this time, her body didn´t want to move. The only thing she felt was pain.
Pain which drove her near to madness.
She wanted to scream, but oddly enough her voice refused it and she remained silent. Moments later, she felt limp and powerless and fought against the unconsciousness which tried hard to regain control over her body. Her eyes fluttered before they were slightly lowered. Chizuru stood up and left her room.
It was cold as she entered the courtyard. Several stars covered the sky, as if they would accompany her by her walk. The moment she reached the sakura tree, she stood still and looked how the cherry blossoms flattered through the air until they reached the ground. Chizuru left the courtyard and was about to leave the headquarters when a voice interrupted her.
„Where do you think you´re going ?"
She stopped in her tracks and turned around. There, only meters away, stood he. His short brown hair fluttered through the strong wind as his green eyes fixed the girl like an animal who had found his new prey. But unlike her normal self, she didn´t felt uncomfortable like she normal did. No, it was as if she had hoped somebody would found her.
„What do you think I am doing, Okita-san ?"
He looked at her with a frown, could he see that the girl acted strange. He knew how she would act at this moment, but this time she seemed like another person. Souji recovered quickly and smiled like usual.
„You know when you´ve planned to flee, I´ve to kill you."
She turned around and Souji froze as he saw her. Many tears covered her face as she walked slowly in his direction, as if this would be the most normal thing in the world. He didn´t know what to do, could he not handle a girl who cried. It was Sano who was used to such things, but not him. Suddenly, she jumped in his arms and pressed his body tightly against hers while his eyes widened lightly.
What was she supposed to do ?
She buried her face against his chest and cried while he was helpless what to do with the crying girl. Sure, he threatened to kill her, but this was just to frighten her away even when he would did it immediately when someone ordered it to him. The girl wasn´t important for him and when she had to die then it was so.
It wasn´t any of his own business.
But she was under the protection of the Shinsengumi, so he couldn´t kill her like he wanted the first time he met her. But this was now meaningless. She was now crying in front of her and he didn´t know what to do with her. Something in his mind told him to push her away, but his body did nothing as if he was controlled by someone.
„Forgive me."
Her words echoed in his head the moment he felt an unimaginable pain in his back. He wanted to push her away, but she didn´t let him go. She bent down to his ear and whispered.
„Who is the one who kill me now, Okita-san ?"
Her words sounded like mockery the moment her claw hands buried themselves deeper in his back. Souji felt how blood raised in his throat but he refused to show weakness in front of her.
This wasn´t Chizuru anymore.
He grabbed with his hands after a spot on her leg and pushed with all his might against this. She startled and this was his chance to free himself. He pushed her aside and draw his sword in the right moment as she tried to attack him with her claws.
It was a mystery for him why her hands were deformed.
In the next moment, her hair turned to white and horns appeared on her head, her eye-color changed to amber. She uttered strange noises which caused the other captains to wake up. They stormed out from their rooms and saw in horror how Souji fought against Chizuru.
„Okita, what are ya doing!?"
„Shut up!"
He was pissed that Heisuke couldn´t understand in which situation he was in as Chizuru started her next attack. She struck with her claws again and again against his blade in hope to destroy it. Souji was pushed back from her. He gritted his teeth as he tried hard to hold stand against her blows and tried to finish her off the moment Harada hold him back.
„Don´t kill her."
Souji nearly laughed. This have to be a bad joke. He shouldn´t kill her after she tried to flee, attacked and kill him ? Not with him.
„Of course I´ll kill her."
„Not without my permission,"
It was Hijikata who spoke and his words were law in the Shinsengumi and Souji knew it. This short distraction was enough for Chizuru to kick Souji in his stomach to escape as she jumped over the wall and left the headquarters.
This was the first part. For the next I need your voice. You can decide which men of the Shinsengumi will be the one who rescue Chizuru. You can leave a review to let me know or PM me directly :)